McGregor: I was not surprised to see Khabib scurry away from fighting

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The former two-division UFC champion once again goes after his rival for his decision to retire from the spot. Conor McGregor is one week away from his return to the Octagon, and a win over Dustin Poirier at UFC 257 would surely see him get a title shot... whether or not it s against Khabib Nurmagomedov.

Last year, Nurmagomedov 29-0 announced his retirement from MMA after submitting Justin Gaethje at UFC 254. Khabib and McGregor are bitter rivals, with Khabib defeating Conor by fourth-round submission at UFC 229 before a post-fight brawl broke out. Unsurprisingly, McGregor didn t hold back his thoughts on Khabib s retirement.

How you could walk away at this stage is baffling to me, but each to their own, McGregor told TheMacLife via MMA Junkie . There s so many fights out there. Even to carry on around the Tony Ferguson situation I don t care about nothing. You re scheduled to fight a man, no matter what, fights must take place. You can t just scurry away from bouts. It s been the hallmark of his approach. I was not surprised to see him walk away or scurry away, I should say, so it is what it is. We carry on.

Dana White has already met with Khabib to try and coerce him out of retirement, with a rematch against his rival McGregor surely sought after. It must be noted that Khabib has never had a rematch in his entire MMA career, but he s also never had a fight as financially lucrative as this one.

McGregor vs. Poirier 2 is officially a non-title affair but as you might expect, the Irish superstar believes that next week s main event should double as a title bout.

I feel it should be, McGregor said. I don t think Dana is going to be bouncing in to throw me a belt straight away with the way the year went, but I understand. What are the belts? I m here to compete, get some good competition, and the belts will come. I think maybe the next bout is fair.

For the time being, Khabib is still the champ.

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